BUDGET CHIEF FRANKLIN RAINES IS THE NEW WHITE HOUSE PROTOTYPE: COURTLY, CENTRIST AND KEEN ON A DEAL. BUT WILL HE GET ROLLED? A PORTRAIT OF THE MAN ON THE

Dick Armey likes to say that his first waking thought is how to make the day unbearable for Democrats. So when you hear the House majority leader fairly purring about one of them--particularly one who happens to be the new White House budget chief--it's time to wonder: Has the thawing of partisan hatred begun? Is progress in the air? Or is someone about to get rolled?

The Democrat in question is Frank Raines, 48, who is, as Armey sweetly puts it, "a serious guy who understands what needs to be done and is going to do his level best to do...